


loving every minute 'cause you make me feel so alive

by aelisheva



Category: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)
Genre: 5+1 Things, Bechdel Test Pass, Bisexual Miles Morales, Bisexual Peter Parker, Gen, Jewish Peter Parker, Misses Clause Challenge, Pansexual Gwen Stacy, Past Harry Osborn/Peter Parker, Trans Girl Gwen Stacy, Trans Girl Mayday Parker, Transgender Gwen Stacy, Transgender Mayday Parker, background gwen/her universe's mj, background miles morales/ganke, background peter b/mary jane, may "mayday" parker makes a cameo!, the parkers adopted her
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-10
Updated: 2019-11-10
Packaged: 2021-01-27 03:56:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,747
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21385690
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aelisheva/pseuds/aelisheva
Summary: five times the a-team helped each other out, and one time they helped someone else.
Relationships: Miles Morales & Gwen Stacy, Miles Morales & Peter B. Parker, Miles Morales & Peter B. Parker & Gwen Stacy, Peter B. Parker & Gwen Stacy
Comments: 8
Kudos: 71
Collections: Yuletide 2019





	loving every minute 'cause you make me feel so alive

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Redrikki](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Redrikki/gifts).

> Happy Yuletide, Redrikki, hope you enjoy! 
> 
> (The title is from "Alive" by Empire of the Sun.)

i: august

_ Note to self, _ Miles thought, _ don’t go out on patrol in the middle of August while wearing a black bodysuit. _ He squirmed around in his seat atop the roof of the brownstone apartment. After quickly looking around to make sure no one could see him, he yanked off his dark mask. Sighing, he wiped off the sweat that had been building on his forehead. He’d been out here for less than an hour, and already he was --

“Miles.”

Miles barely held back a scream from the voice that had popped up behind him. He cringed, sure that whatever shoplifter or mugger he’d been looking out for had heard him_ now. _Luckily, the only thing he’d scared off were some pigeons on the sidewalk below.

Miles spun around on his bottom to stare at the one and only Peter B. Parker. “Peter B.? What are you doing here? In my dimension?”

Peter shrugged and sighed. “More side effects, I guess.”

“Oh, yeah.” Over the past few months, Peter had been randomly and without warning popping in and out of different dimensions. It would happen with a sneeze, or even just while he was out shopping for soup. The third time it happened, he ended up in Peni’s dimension. Luckily, she helped him make a remote that would always bring him back home afterward. Her hypothesis was that it was due to residual energy in his system left over from being shoved through the collider. “It’s probably because you’re just really really old,” she’d cracked.

Miles tugged at the front of his bodysuit to fan some more air onto himself. “But why are you here in front of me right now?”

Peter took off his own mask and fanned himself with it. “Well, I saw you up there and thought you might want someone to talk to while on patrol. Then I realized that it’s _ sweltering hot out _ and if you keep this up, you’re going to _ die _ of heat stroke today.”

“No I’m not!” Miles objected, standing up indignantly. He didn’t look as tough as he wanted to, though, as his legs quickly started to wobble around. Peter held his shoulders to steady him.

“Miles.”

“I’ve been out here for less than an hour.”

“It’s almost noon, the sun’s gonna be at its highest peak and you’re going to --”

“I wasn’t planning on staying out that much longer!” Miles wiped off another wave of sweat from his brow.

“Morales. What would your parents say if they knew you were out here in the heat?”

“My dad once had to guard a bank in the middle of a heat wave.”

“Yeah, well, that was probably before global warming really started screwing everything up….And isn’t your mom a nurse? What would she say about you _begging_ for heat stroke right now?”

“Mis padres no me consentirían como tú ahora,” Miles muttered.

“Hey, you know I don’t know Spanish.”

“Exacto.” Miles wiped off another wave of sweat. “¿Estas cansado tambien, o --” His legs started to shake again. Peter gasped, then swung an arm over Miles and swung them both down towards the sidewalk. “That is it, Morales. We are getting you some ice for your head, back, _ and _wrists.”

“How come you’re not about to pass out in this heat?” Miles mumbled as they walked over to the convenience store.

“It’s probably because I’m just really really old…”

ii: the middle of september 

“He likes computers, right?”

Miles and Gwen were sitting criss-cross-applesauce on her bed (“Gwen, if you call it that again, I’m leaving.”). Miles shrugged at her question. “Well yeah, Ganke is really into engineering, but there’s not really anything _romantic_ about that. Nothing you can make a promposal out of.” He blinked. “Can you even call it a promposal if it’s for Homecoming?”

Gwen shrugged. “I don’t know….Are there any computer puns you can make?”

“Ehhh. Too dorky.” He sighed. “I just really don’t want to mess this up, okay?”

“And you’re not going to. You’re Miles freakin’ Morales.”

Miles rolled his eyes. “And if you were ‘Miles freakin’ Morales,’ what would you do? How would you ask him out?”

“I don’t know...My Homecoming is coming up too, and I was going to ask out my MJ by serenading her.”

“That’s it!” Miles exclaimed. “I can rewrite some lyrics to be about the dance, and...How does ‘Sunflower’ by Post Malone sound?”

Gwen blinked. “Wait. You mean Most Palone?”

“Wha -- that’s his name in your universe? Why?”

“Don’t ask me!”

iii: the end of september

A week or so after that, both of them sat on her bed again -- this time to help Gwen ask out her MJ Watson to their Homecoming dance.

“Were you still going to serenade her?”

The transgender and pansexual pride flags pinned up over her bed started to sag, and Gwen reached up to fix them. “Well...it’s kinda hard to be romantic with a drum set.”

“That’s not true. It depends on the song,” Miles insisted. “What kind of music does she like?” Miles still hadn’t met this MJ yet, but from what he’d heard, she seemed pretty cool. Apparently during one of Peni’s cross-dimensional trips, she’d run into this MJ, and even taken some pictured with her as proof. Apparently, they had a very long and nice conversation about how they both know Gwen. Peni said she was really kind and fun to be around. From the pictures she sent Miles, Gwen’s MJ Watson was in her grade, and had dark skin and braided rows of hair dyed fire-engine red. She had bright brown eyes and a great smile. Miles could see why Gwen was crushing on her so hard.

Gwen plopped back down onto the bed. “Same stuff I do, I guess. Rock. Pop. Indie.”

“She’s in your band, right?”

“Yeah, she’s lead singer and lead guitarist. Probably has something to do with the fact that our band’s called _ The Mary Janes,” _she cracked. “Right now we mainly do covers, though, writing original stuff is hard.”

“So why don’t you do a cover of a love song instead of wasting time writing something original?”

“Now we’re getting somewhere.” Gwen said. “But that still doesn’t change the fact that the only instrument I know is the very unromantic drums.”

“You could always do it a capella.”

Gwen rolled her eyes. “Like some kind of _ prep? _No way.”

“....You guys still call them _ preps?” _

iv: october

“Let me GO, Osborn!” Gwen squirmed as her universe’s Harry Osborn tightened his grip around her stomach as they flew through the air. _ Was he even still Harry Osborn anymore? _ she thought to herself. _ You can’t exactly reason with -- _

The Green Goblin snarled as they landed on the edge of the Brooklyn Bridge. Gwen reached backward to grab at him to steady herself from the impact. For some reason, this just made the Goblin angrier, angry enough to grab her by the hair. She gasped and shrieked as he slowly stepped closer and closer to the edge of the bridge. How was he this strong now? He wasn’t even holding her stomach anymore --

_ “Peter!” _ she screamed again. “PETER! I --”

_ “Put her down,” _ Peter B. bellowed. His mask was also off and his face was downright fuming.

Harry whipped his head around to stare at the older Spider-Person. “Is this some kind of trick?”

“What??” Peter shouted. “You’re about to kill --”

“The _ monster _ who killed my _best friend._ Our Peter Parker,” he snarled. “Is this some last-ditch attempt to _ replace _ him for me?? He’s old enough to be my _ father _ \--”

“That still works for me,” Gwen shouted, voice cracking. “So why don’t you stop being an ungrateful baby and --”

The Goblin thrust his arm forward and Gwen yelped. The water below looked so flat and hard and _ so far down -- _

_ “Let her go!” _Peter shouted.

Harry’s fist around her hair tightened. “Alright.” 

Gwen plummeted towards the water.

Peter screamed, shoving his hands into his hair as he ran over to the edge. “OSBORN!”

But the Green Goblin was already cackling and flying upward and away. Peter started sprinting before shooting out a web to swing below the bridge. Luckily, Gwen had enough quick thinking in her to start shooting out her own webs to catch herself. Smart girl. He’d be sure to tell her father all about it if she died. When she died? If? When? Both started plummeting faster and faster and if when if when if when if when if --

Somehow, somehow, Peter managed to catch her in midair. Gwen gasped in relief, then helped him to thwip their way back up. Both shaking, they finally stepped back on solid ground -- on a hillside _ far _away from that bridge, of course. The two grabbed each other in a crushing hug --

“Gwen, it’s okay, it’s okay, I’ve got you I’ve got you I --”

“Peter I really really thought he was going to kill me….”

After five solid minutes of the two of them catching their breath, they finally wiped their tears and cleared their throats.

“He was…” Gwen started, voice still hoarse. “He was my universe’s Harry Osborn….I didn’t tell you about him...do you have one too?”

“Yes.” Peter picked at a stray thread on his suit. “Me and him were also best friends. For a very long time. We actually dated for a little while before he...you know.”

“Turned into a rampaging freak of nature?”

“Tried to kill my other best friend.”

Gwen blinked. Peter wiped off another wave of tears. “Gwen..._ My _ Gwen was murdered by my Harry. Not because he wanted to get her out of our picture. Because -- I don’t even know. But he killed her in the _exact same way_ he was trying to kill you.” He coughed. “Guess….guess some things never change, huh?”

Gwen shoved her hands in her hair. “So what are you…”

“He threw her off our Brooklyn Bridge. And the best part is? I tried to web her up in the _ exact same way _ I did with you. Even though the whiplash _ killed her _ and I --” He put his hands in his head.

“...You what?”

“I. Let. Gwen. Stacy. Die.” He jerked up. “Oh God. Please please don’t think I was hoping to kill you too.” Gwen shook her head and he sighed. “Thank God. It’s -- it’s just that that’s the _ only way _I can think of, you...you know?” The two pulled each other into another crushing hug.

Gwen sighed into his suit. “That...that reminds me...did I --” She shut her eyes. “Did I ever tell you what happened to my universe’s Peter?”

Peter shook his head. “Not the full story, no.”

“Good. Because I’m not ready to share it with you yet.”

Peter pulled her in tighter. “Okay. But I’m here whenever you’re ready. I swear to you that I will be able to take it.”

  
  


v: november 

By November, Gwen was ready to tell him. But not because she wanted to be.

After their team-up fight against The Lizard (of Peter’s universe), they headed over to a deserted part of Central Park to regroup. Peter yanked off his mask and shook out his hair like a dog. “Oy vey iz _ mir. _ That was a close one, huh Gwen?”

Gwen pulled her mask off. “Yeah, and I --” Peter jumped as she gasped a lot louder than a person normally would._ “What _is that scratch on your side??” she asked.

“What??” Peter looked around and then down at the giant claw scratch on his suit.

“The Lizard! He could have gotten you!”

“Well, yeah, but..it’s just a scratch, right? It’s not like there’s anything in it that’ll turn me into a lizard myself....Stacy, trust me! I have a degree in chemical engineering...” He trailed off as he realized just how seriously Gwen was taking this. “Gwen,” he tried, “Does this have something to do with how your Peter died?”

She crossed her arms. “Maybe.”

“Gwen….”

“Fiiiine. Yes. I.........I let my Peter Parker die.” She sucked in a breath. “He was always being bullied in school. Shoved around, called names, the usual. And he -- he thought it would all go away if he...injected this stuff in him to turn him into The Lizard.” She let another breath go. “But whatever chemicals he used ended up killing him. And I was there the night he died. Because I was the one fighting him and --”

Peter grabbed her in another warm hug. “Gwen, I --”

“Yeah, yeah I know,” she started, muffled from the shoulder of his suit. “It’s all in the past and I can’t change it. But you -- I mean, _you_ have so much to live for. If you died...it would really devastate the people around you.” She froze. “Oh God. That sounds like my Peter is --”

“Stacy. It’s okay. I get it,” Peter said gently. “Weirdly enough, you’re not the only person currently friends with an alternate version of their dead best friend.”

Despite herself, Gwen snorted.

“Besides. I’ve got a wife and kid now, and I am _ not _ dying on them.”

Gwen broke apart from him. “May’s officially your kid now?”

“All of the papers went through a couple days ago,” he nodded. “She was the happiest nine-year-old girl I’ve ever seen. She's spent her whole life in foster care up until now.” 

“Has she met Aunt May yet?”

“Not yet, but when she does, it _ better _ go well.” The two May Parkers having the same name was a complete coincidence. Peter’s daughter May had picked out her chosen name a whole _ year _before she met the Parkers. Luckily, she also likes the nickname Mayday -- which is a lot easier than “Old May” versus “Young May.” And a lot easier on “Old May.”

"Yeah," Gwen agreed. "Has she picked out her Hebrew name yet? You know, since her birth family wasn't Jewish...Then your aunt will _really_ never have to get called Old May."

"Right now, she's thinking Maytal, since it sounds like May. Means 'dew drop,' it's pretty....And luckily, my aunt's Hebrew name is _Miriam._ But Mayday didn't want that because it's an 'old lady name.'"

"What's yours again?"

"Peretz Binyamin."

"Nice." Gwen started playing with her hair. “It’s gonna be weird for her being the daughter of Spider-Man.”

Peter looked up. “Yeah...but at least she won’t be able to inherit my powers, since we adopted her. That way, she’ll only become a hero if she wants to.”

“That’s good. I guess neither of us really had that choice, huh Pete?”

Peter patted her on the shoulder. “I guess not.”

+1: november (again)

Miles and Gwen creaked open the door of the Parkers’ apartment. “Peter?” Miles carefully began. “Mary Jane?”

No response. Gwen cleared her throat. “Uh...guys? What was the big emergency you wanted our help with? Is there someone after you?” She paused. “Or after Mayday? Or maybe --”

Mary Jane walked into the living room, hand in a big bag of potato chips. “Close,” she crunched.

Miles blinked. “So...this 'emergency' is _not_ another villain chasing after you.”

Mary Jane shook her head. “No, I -- Aw come on, did Peter really tell you it was an _ emergency??” _

Hearing his name, Peter stepped into the room holding up Mayday. The nine-year-old waved to the two teenagers, and they both waved back. “What,” Peter cracked, “so you’re policing my word choice now? Isn’t it bad enough that Mayday’s favorite superhero is _ Thor _instead of me?”

"Wait," Mary Jane started, turning to her daughter, "your favorite superhero is Thor now?"

Mayday raised a finger. “That’s _ Doctor _Thor, Mom. Doctor Jane Foster. She’s an astrophysicist.” She put her hand down.

"Well, yeah, but last week you said your favorite superhero was Samantha Wilson. And before that it was Spider-Gwen." (Gwen turned red at that.)

"Ughhhh." Mayday threw her hands up in that dramatic nine-year-old way. "I have a lot of favorites, okay?"

"Okay," MJ smiled, rolling her eyes. She turned back to the two teens in front of her. “Are you two up for babysitting Mayday for a couple hours while we go on a night out? We’ll pay you.”

Gwen and Miles shrugged and nodded. “As long as it’s not another villain,” Miles agreed. 

“Yeah,” Gwen added. “It’d be nice to catch a break for once.”

And as the three of them watched cartoons and ran around the house in dress-up clothes, it was. It was very nice indeed.


End file.
